Bangkok--26 Nov--Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today it raised the ratings on the general obligation debt of 19 municipalities in Washington and Oregon following a review of their credit strengths.
"These are credits that may have certain ratios that historically have been below a median for their rating category," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Ian Carroll. "As such, the upgrades recognize that credit strength exists beyond the limitations of ratio analysis, as numbers often do not present a complete credit picture."
"We believe that a more qualitative assessment is often necessary to reflect some of the strengths and weaknesses in the state and local government sector," said Mr. Carroll.
For more information on each upgraded municipality, see the article "Several Washington And Oregon Municipalities Are Upgraded After Review Of Credit Strength," to be published shortly on RatingsDirect. In addition, see our criteria review dated April 2, 2008, "Key General Obligation Ratio Credit Ratings—Analysis vs. Reality."
The upgraded issuers in Washington are Kirkland, Everett, Maple Valley, Olympia, Sammamish, Tacoma, Battle Ground, Bonney Lake, Monroe, Shoreline, Richland, Lacey, Chelan County, SeaTac, Issaquah, and Renton, while those in Oregon are Beaverton, Oregon City, and Washington County.
The reports are available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, atwww.ratingsdirect.com. If you are not a RatingsDirect subscriber, you may purchase a copy of the report by calling (1) 212-438-9823 or sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Credit Ratings in the left navigation bar, select Find a Rating, then Credit Ratings Search. Members of the media may request copies of these reports by contacting the media representative provided.
Media Contact:
Edward Sweeney, New York, (1) 212-438-6634
[email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
Ian Carroll, San Francisco (1) 415-371-5060
Gabriel Petek, CFA, San Francisco (1) 415-371-5042